Shops refusing to swipe card when chip fails

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cr@zydude

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Can shops refuse to let you swipe your card if the chip fails, and the machine is programmed to accept swipes?


So, at Pick n Pay today I tried to pay for my groceries with my Virgin Money credit card. The chip failed twice, and the machine said to swipe the card. Before I could, it said transaction failed. I thought it was odd, and tried inserting my card again. Again the chip failed, I was about to pay with my Capitec card, when I noticed that the teller was manually cancelling the transaction when the swipe card message came up. I asked her why she was doing that, and she claimed that "you can't swipe a chip card". I explained that the magnetic strip is a fallback for situations like this, but she insisted, and I had her call a supervisor.

Supervisor says that they have been instructed not to allow swiping of chipped cards, due to fraud. When I tried to ask who gave this instruction, and if their merchant agreement allows for it (Pick n Pays are almost all corporate stores now) she relented and let me swipe my card. Transaction went through, after I entered my pin, and off I went.

My questions, has this happened to anyone else, and more importantly, can shops refuse to allow you to swipe your card in a case like this? I'd like to better understand the arrangement before I go full bore with my complaint. Also, sorry to the people I held up at Kenilworth today, but I can't accept a cashier telling my something is impossible when I know that it can be done.

Extra info, for questions people may have. It's a fairly new card, about a year old. It worked yesterday, and I'm nowhere near my limit. The card looks to be in good shape. It's either in my wallet or in a card machine.
 
I occasionally get chip failures at PnP and only PnP, but then they do the swipe and it works. Absa 'cheque' card.
 
I get 2 or 3 chips not reading almost everyday. I wipe the chip with my t-shirt for a few seconds and it works 90% of the time.



DA-LION-619 said:
Yip. That's the reason, swiping doesn't need a PIN.
If a fraudulent transaction takes place, they're at fault.
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They have to do an override, I think it makes the merchant liable for any losses
 
I think rather complain to Virgin Money about the potential faulty chip. While bashing PnP seems like the obvious choice, looking at it objectively PnP do have valid and reasonable grounds to think it is potentially fraud. Skimmed cards behave in exactly the same way your experience happened. If it was a machine reader problem, clients before and after you should be experience the same problem as well.
 
Mystic Twilight said:
I think rather complain to Virgin Money about the potential faulty chip. While bashing PnP seems like the obvious choice, looking at it objectively PnP do have valid and reasonable grounds to think it is potentially fraud. Skimmed cards behave in exactly the same way your experience happened. If it was a machine reader problem, clients before and after you should be experience the same problem as well.
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My Capitec, VM, FNB and Nedback cards have all done it at various readers. It's just life. They can ask for ID if they are worried about fraud and I'll show my smart card ID and my drivers license.
 
supersunbird said:
My Capitec, VM, FNB and Nedback cards have all done it at various readers. It's just life. They can ask for ID if they are worried about fraud and I'll show my smart card ID and my drivers license.
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+1 I have also never been refused a swipe at Pnp when the chip misbehave
 
I have never been refused. that said I do have an issue with the banks allowing this. I would have expected that it would still require a pin. otherwise what stops criminals using this to steal money from your account.

I hope for large amounts it might ask for pin but I haven't tried.

same for tap and pay. large amounts it requires pin but small amounts nothing.
 
supersunbird said:
My Capitec, VM, FNB and Nedback cards have all done it at various readers. It's just life. They can ask for ID if they are worried about fraud and I'll show my smart card ID and my drivers license.
Click to expand...

Yeah, cards do sometimes malfunction. I was upset that the specific Pick n Pay actively prevents swipes. I do carry my licence if ID is an issue.

At least now I know that it's not Pick n Pay policy, the supervisor seemed very cagey on who gave the instruction to ban swipes.

Does anyone know the rules that shops need to follow in terms of their machine vendor agreements?
 
cr@zydude said:
Yeah, cards do sometimes malfunction. I was upset that the specific Pick n Pay actively prevents swipes. I do carry my licence if ID is an issue.

At least now I know that it's not Pick n Pay policy, the supervisor seemed very cagey on who gave the instruction to ban swipes.

Does anyone know the rules that shops need to follow in terms of their machine vendor agreements?
Click to expand...

Pretty sure it's up to them whether to accept swipe over pin as they bear the burden of the risk in a dispute case whereas with pin they do not.
 
I.am.Sam said:
some swipes require pins

and also some receipts say no sig required yet they make you sign

but i have no clue why you need to sign cause all i do is scribble
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PIN transactions normally say no sig required on the slip.
 
Some swipes don't require PIN authorisation. Maybe they've been bitten a few times before.
 
Kosmik said:
Pretty sure it's up to them whether to accept swipe over pin as they bear the burden of the risk in a dispute case whereas with pin they do not.
Click to expand...

Yes, it's up the merchant really, no bank can refuse mag stripe at this stage, as there is still a lot of cards that are mag stripe only.

And you are right, non-pin transactions liability sits with the acquirer/merchant... whereas pin based shifts liability to the issuer.
 
I must say that this issue of "chip malfunction" has come up very recently for me, and seems to happen continuously these days. What's changed?
 
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